INDY NXT SERIES: MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX

August 31, 2025

Salvador de Alba

Myles Rowe

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Joined by the first- and second-place finishing drivers this morning. Want to congratulate Myles Rowe who led 20 of the 65 laps today. His second win in 2025, sixth podium of his season. Great to be joined by Salvador de Alba who led 45 laps this weekend. Second straight podium, third podium of the season, fifth of his career.

Great battle up front. Congratulations, Myles. Your thoughts on getting another win here.

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, for sure it's really good to come off a win at the end of the season, knowing we have a confirmed ride for next year. Big confidence going into next year.

Just pleased the team can end on a high note. They do so much for me. They have so much faith in me. Very happy I could give this to them.

That was honestly a really good show. Yeah, I'm just pleased with how the performance ended up. Yeah, very grateful.

THE MODERATOR: Your race had two stages, trying to move your way up from ninth, a lot of action throughout the top six, seven, eight. Maybe talk us through that. Then after the restart, having a chance to pick up a spot on Salvador.

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, I knew the track obviously is flat out for us, it being the superspeedway. I had to get through quickly. Salvador, just being able to cruise up front, couldn't lose too much time.

Passing efficiently was crucial today. Had a little battle with D'Orlando, which was really fun. But I knew giving up a position like that could hinder that race win. I think the caution obviously played into effect, too. Even though we were around the same delta, that gave us a little bit of an edge being in P2, having the restart in P2. Glad I was able to get up to that position before the caution happened and be able to reset and then go at it again.

All in all, it was really fun. I think the drivers all showed a good amount of respect. Barely any touching or anything. Nothing too dangerous. Right on the fine line, which is what we're here for. Very happy with today.

THE MODERATOR: Salvador, congratulations on wrapping up 2025 with another podium finish. Probably the last thing you wanted to see was a full course yellow come out. Your thoughts on another positive finish.

SALVADOR de ALBA: Yeah, definitely very positive end of the season, wrapping up two podiums, my first win last weekend and first pole this weekend. Happy with that.

Not too happy with Myles getting us in that restart, two laps after that. Congrats to Myles. Just happy to be here celebrating podiums and showing the pace we've got. Yeah, just happy to take this one home and start working for what will come up next year.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. Myles, how important was cleaning off your tires after that caution because of the amount of tire dry or oil dry that was put on the backstretch?

MYLES ROWE: That was really key. A lot of that debris on our tires. The feeling inside the cockpit was not so great for someone who is looking for a very quick outside pass after the restart. It was quite key to maintain the temperature, which makes you weave, got that dust off. Normally I don't weave too much. I use a lot of brake temp, as do most of drivers, nowadays.

But weaving and getting all that debris off was quite key, especially in having the confidence to roll the outside.

Q. When you back up your victory with another win, how much...

MYLES ROWE: For sure, the validation is crucial for INDYCAR teams, as that's where we all want to go. Especially it's crucial because you know you have that skill. The teams, what they see is the results. It's nice when the results start to even out with what you believe in your heart, as well.

Q. (Question in Spanish for Salvador.)

SALVADOR de ALBA: Definitely we had a very good car. In clean air, it's always easier. That restart, I was told I was to go outside. All of a sudden, Myles was on the inside, so nothing I could do there. As Myles was saying, it's all about respect, especially in these superspeedways with all the speed we have, yeah.

Happy with the result. Not 100%. But yeah, I'll take this home and wrap up the 2025 season with this, with the highs. Just start working, figure out where we're going to be.

Q. Myles, you passed Salvador relatively late in the race, lap 46, after the caution, restart. Did you study him before, where there was a possibility to overtake him when you followed him?

MYLES ROWE: What about a penalty?

Q. No. When you overtook Salvador in lap 46, it was two or three laps after the restart. Before that, I think in lap 28 you were already behind him. Did you study him? Did you know where you could catch him?

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, there was quite a few laps where I was able to understand kind of the line and how he was running. I also had a few laps to understand the trial and errors of Caio and Lochie, how they were running, how that was affecting their cars and balance.

There was a little bit of an advantage there, being able to study that, get into a position where I could execute kind of my philosophy, how I wanted to run it. I think that played a part on the restart.

Q. When you finally overtook him, the gap was very small. Did the traffic work in your favor?

MYLES ROWE: I think for me, the traffic luckily didn't affect me too much. I don't know if I could say it worked in my favor. I think when Salvador was ahead, he got through kind of cleanly. I think there was one time he was behind Jack maybe, kind of maybe got slowed up. But I wasn't really quite in a position to take advantage of that.

I think it was just, like, clean run through traffic all in all. But no advantages I was able to capitalize on.

Q. Myles, talk a little bit about what your off-season's going to be like to prepare yourself for the trek to the next level.

MYLES ROWE: There's going to be a lot of work done with my engineer in the shop. Honestly all the engineers. We're going to really do a big debrief on everything because we have to work a little bit smarter next year. I would say a lot smarter next year if we're going to come out on top.

It's going to take a lot of understanding where we can capitalize, understanding how we can further greaten our strength, but also make sure we can understand our weaknesses and how to address them accordingly in an efficient way in the weekend so we can be fast through all the sessions.

We don't have too many sessions in this series to get the pace, lay down laps in qualifying, especially if you start behind the eight ball. It will be key to do that. Obviously physically staying fit and everything will be in check. I think days at the shop are really what's going to pay off in the long run.

Q. Myles, how do you feel at the moment you come past Salvador and definitely be on the first position?

MYLES ROWE: How did I feel?

Q. Yeah.

MYLES ROWE: Honestly, there was not much to feel. I was focused on my line. The Andrettis were so fast in a straight line. I knew it possibly and probably wasn't over yet. I really stopped using all the track distance and tried to do my best to control whatever draft they were doing.

In the mirrors it looks quite threatening, I'm not going to lie. I knew I had to keep my composure and at the same time focus forward.

There was really no feeling besides keeping composure and staying steady, focusing on what I could do best. The balance of my car was slightly changing at the time, especially since that was my first real grab on clean air. Focusing on my driver tools and everything was my mindset to make sure I could maximize the speed of the race car.

Yeah, it was a beautiful feeling. Times when you're that honed in and for focused, you never forget as a racing driver. That was one of those times. Yeah, I was just loving it.

Q. Myles, you talked a little bit about your line. That was pretty unique. Can you talk about that today.

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, I was honestly really surprised with how the high line was working today. You could really run it really well. You could keep the nose up, get some air without really feeling like the car was going to do much, even with the tire wear.

Three and four was more sketchy than one and two. With the right patience and timing, you could manage the platform and get through a car length up high with honestly no problem.

I think the driver tools and how I was messing with my bars to keep the platform and controlling the oversteer played a huge part. Yeah, I was honestly shocked with how it worked. Once I realized you could do that, I just made sure to take advantage of it while other people weren't.

Yeah, good point on the dust on the tires. That played a key part. I wasn't as comfortable later. Once that cleaned up, that opened up again. Yeah, I had fun learning all that today.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on a fantastic finish to 2025 for both of you. Try to get some rest in the off-season. Thank you.